Sheree Fitch says poem “flowed” out following news of mass shooting

RIVER JOHN – With the news of a mass
shooting in Portapique and other parts of the province on Sunday, Sheree Fitch,
like so many others, went to bed that night upset.

She didn’t sleep well, and the tears were
freely flowing by the time she woke up. It was the first time in a long time
she was that emotional.

She rolled over, grabbed a pen and paper,
and let the words flow.

‘Because we Love, We Cry.’ is the result.

“It burst forth from me,” said Fitch, from
her home in River John. “I didn’t write it. It wrote itself.”

She let her husband, Gilles, read the
piece, and he said she should publish it online. So, Fitch took to her Mabel
Murple’s Book Shoppe and Dreamery page on Facebook.

“They’re just words from the heart. I
always say when you’re in grief, it’s not a poem, it’s a lament.”

Having spent years writing children’s books
and poems, and speaking in schools, Fitch says it was the children she thought
of the most when she learned of the tragedy. The children who lost parents,
grandparents, and even their teacher.

“Her kids, her students. I thought about my
own grandchildren who I couldn’t give answers to when their father died.

“It’s not about my own pain, it’s about the
suffering of those left behind.”

She said having little to no answers will
be the hardest thing to live with.

“Sorrow is indeed a story of love, and this
is a love song. That’s the place where this came from.”

Fitch has given The Advocate and The Light, with Advocate Media Inc., permission to print ‘Because we Love, We Cry.’ in its entirety. Copyright remains with the author.

Because
we Love, We Cry.

Sometimes there is no sense to things my
child
Sometimes there is no answer to the questions why
Sometimes things beyond all understanding
Sometimes, people die.

When it hurts like this, my child
When you are scared, suffering, confused
Even if we are not together
Together, let us cry

Yes, there is still so much love
Because we love, we cry.

Sometimes the sadness takes away your breath Sometimes the pain seems endless, deep Sometimes you cannot find the sun Sometimes you wish you were asleep. When it hurts like this, my child When you are scared and confused

Even if we are not together,
Together, let us cry

Yes, there is still so much love
Because we love, we cry.

Wish that I had answers, child
Wish all this wasn’t so
There are impossible things, child
I cannot bear for you to know.

When it hurts like this, my child
When you are scared and confused
Even if we are not together,
Together, let us cry